"THERE IS MORE OF HEALTH AND HAPPINESS, OR OF DISEASE AND MISERY, CONNECTED WITH OUR METHODS OF COOKING AND EATING, THAN IS DREAMED OF IN THE PHILOSOPHY OF MOST PERSONS"

TRALL, R.T. The New Hydropathic Cook-Book. New York: Fowlers and Wells, 1854. Octavo, original red cloth gilt. $700.

First edition of this cookbook and guide to the principles of hydrotherapy, by one of its first American practitioners.

Hydropathy, a treatment regimen involving both internal and external use of water to cure disease and maintain health, started in its modern form in Austria in the early 1820s. At the height of the movement in the United States, just before the Civil War, there were well over 100 spas and clinics in the United States based on its principles. Russell Thacher Trall, the author of this work, opened one of the first of those clinics. Over time, the movement focused not so much on curing disease as on maintaining health, recommending exercise, fresh air, drinking lots of water, eating a diet sparse in meats and heavy in vegetables—a plan very similar to the one recommended today. Cagle 754. Bitting, 464.

Scattered foxing to text; cloth in excellent condition, gilt bright. A near-fine copy.